There are a number of different types of air conditioners; the field in which the present invention is found is that which is directed to refrigerator-type air conditioners which are installed in residential homes, or perhaps small office or industrial buildings.
In general, refrigerator-type air conditioners comprise either wall-mounted or window-mounted units of the sort commonly referred to as room air conditioners, and air conditioners which are intended for use with central heating and air conditioning systems. Those air conditioner units have a much higher capacity than room air conditioners, and generally comprise two principal elements. The first element is a heat exchanger which is mounted in a plenum chamber of a central forced air furnace, or which is otherwise mounted into an air duct from which air is distributed into the building to be cooled, and a compressor unit which is usually mounted on brackets off the side of the building or on such as a concrete pad located beside the building.
The compressor unit, in fact, comprises a refrigeration unit having a compressor, condenser coils, and so on. The condenser coils may have fins connected to them, or they may be mounted in a complicated labyrinthine configuration; and in any event, the design provision is for there to be very considerable surface on the condenser coils and/or associated fins so as to radiate heat into the atmosphere as quickly as possible. To promote the heat radiation away from the condenser coils, a fan is mounted within the compressor unit to blow air past the condenser coils.
However, if the capacity of the air conditioner is somewhat undersized for the building which is intended to be cooled, or if there is a very hot weather, or in any event when it is desired to improve the efficiency of the air conditioner, there may be an installation associated with the external compressor unit of the air conditioner, whereby water may be sprayed or misted into the immediate vicinity of the condenser coils of the air conditioner, so as to promote faster heat exchange from the condenser coils. This enhanced cooling of the condenser coils of an air conditioner may result in a few extra degrees of cooling for the building, or less load on the compressor; and that, in turn, may result in a more efficient air conditioner operation.
The present invention provides a simple and inexpensive apparatus for controlling the delivery of cooling water to the vicinity of the condenser coils of an air conditioner. However, the precise manner of delivery of water to the vicinity of the air conditioner condenser coils, the nozzles through which the water is sprayed, and the mounting arrangement for the nozzles, are all outside the scope of the present invention. What the present invention does provide is an apparatus which will open or close a water valve; and if the valve is open, water will be delivered to the spray nozzle or nozzles in any well known manner.
Moreover, it is assumed that, for purposes of the present invention, the water source from which the pressurized water is delivered will generally be ordinary household water which is delivered at ordinary household pressure. Therefore, the valve which comprises an essential element of the apparatus of the present invention may be a relatively simple structure, and the valve may assume any one of a number of different configurations. However, as will be discussed hereafter, it is also contemplated that, in certain circumstances, the pressure of the water delivered to the spray nozzles may be quite high--as much as 1,500 psi.
Most externally mounted compressor units for air conditioners of the sort found in homes or small office or industrial buildings, as described above, are such that the fan is mounted in a cabinet for the compressor unit, where the fan is mounted at the bottom of the cabinet and blows upwardly past the condenser coils. It is those air conditioner units with which the present invention is intended to be used, because a feature of the present invention is such that an upward flow of air is required to move a hinged, vaned paddle member so as to open a valve, all in a manner described hereafter. In any event, it will be noted that the hinged, vaned paddle member is such that it may be mounted to the top of an air conditioner compressor unit cabinet, in a horizontal orientation, and in a location where blown air flow from the fan in the air conditioner compressor unit will impinge on the paddle member and cause it to pivot upwardly in a manner described hereafter.
By providing a simple mechanical linkage to open a valve, the necessity for complicated, expensive, and potentially dangerous electrical installations, by which solenoid valves or the like would be opened to permit water spray over the condenser coils of the air conditioner unit, is obviated. Thus, the present invention provides a direct, mechanical linkage and does not rely on servomechanisms or the like.
Another aspect of the present invention is its purpose to provide a control apparatus for the delivery of cooling water to the compressor unit of an air conditioner, where the delivery of the water cooling is not directly into the condenser coils of the air conditioner, but into the vicinity of the condenser coils. More especially, the present invention may particularly be used with a spray nozzle system that is set up not to directly spray or impinge water onto the condenser coils, but to spray the water into the air so that it will become a fine mist in the volume of air surrounding the compressor unit. Indeed, the fine mist of water may evaporate so as to increase the humidity of the air in the immediate vicinity of the compressor unit and its condenser coils. This higher, very localized humidity, whether it is as a consequence of water mist or water vapor in the vicinity of the condenser coils, will result in a higher efficiency of cooling because there will be a higher rate of transfer of heat from the condenser coils to the more humid air than if the air were dry. Moreover, by having a fine mist, and especially when the water evaporates to become water vapor, there is much less likelihood that mineral deposits will occur on the condenser coils from the minerals that may have been dissolved in the water.